Standards for selecting instructional materials
The following standards were developed by the National Adult Literacy and
Learning Disability Center. They have used 8 standards to evaluate a number
of commonly used instructional materials, including Laubach Way to
Reading, Breakthrough to Math (3) and Challenger 6 Adult Reading Series.
The standards should be used as a guide for reviewing existing and potential
material that agencies are considering for purchase. It is not expected that
every instructional material will meet all 8 standards. However, each agency
needs to look at what standards are most critical to meet the learning needs of
the adults they serve.
The instructional material is effective for teaching adults with learning
disabilities.
- Look for a description of research that indicates that the material is
effective for adults with learning disabilities (i.e. results that describe
how the instructional material worked with adults)
- Make sure the information is presented in a visually friendly manner
with good font size, lots of white space, and clear layout of
information
The instructional material is appropriate for an adult, regardless of the
person's age, gender, race, ethnicity, and primary language.
- Look for studies that include adults with the same characteristics as
persons whom your organization serves (i.e. either the material was
tested with similar groups of learners, or the examples used, reading
passages and questions are adult-oriented and would not offend the
group you work with)
The instructional principles used to promote learning are clearly stated and
are consistent with what is known about learning disabilities.
- Look for teaching practices that have learners question each other,
encourage learners to correct their own work, and ask them to
generate more than two work samples
- A description of how the material was developed might include
theories or incorporate learning principles
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